How You Doin'? Critiques and Editors: The Writers' Job Performance Review

by Kathy Calarco

Before I took up writing full-time, I worked for “The Man” full-time. The usual 9 to 5 grind, five days a week. Achieving a higher pay level depended on job performance, and with that came the dreaded job performance review. Every six months whether I wanted it or not, my employer scheduled a time to sit down and talk. He or she had spread out before them my personnel file that contained such things as days absent, complaints, years with the employer and previous performance reviews.


“The Man” first praised such things as willing to help others and fulfilling tasks on a timely basis, as well as criticized such things as taking too many days off for illness or arriving late and leaving early. Did I turn defensive at the critical comments? No, not in front of “The Man.” I’d wait until in the break room. There I’d kvetch with fellow staff who also received performance reviews. I remember feeling hurt or anger over negative reviews, followed by reflection. I adjusted behavior, sought ways to improve, which later paid off. At the next review I received a raise.


Now that I no longer work and have allowed the writing bug to sink its incisors in my butt, there isn’t anyone hovering over me to crack the whip, point out errors or gripe that I didn’t show up to the keyboard on time. Yet, who is keeping me in check? That said, how do I know if I’m doing a good job or not?


As fiction writers we live in a solitary world filled with imaginary friends. Mine have never pointed out mistakes, sluggish sentences, or whether the story is going anywhere. This is when I consider putting my work out there for others to read, for if I don’t then I’ll never know how I’m performing.


The outside world becomes “The Man” whether we want it or not, and lately I’ve seen writers who’d rather skip the job performance review, opting to do it their way. Better to avoid critiques that might hurt their feelings. Better to slap their work up on some self-publishing venue, and thereafter return to face-off with uncomplimentary reviewers, “The Man” of the writing world.


We’d all love for everyone to love our work. But if we ignore the all important reviews and critiques, how can we improve? Someone once commented about a piece of my work saying it was passive. Did I become defensive? No, I couldn’t since she never backed up her statement with explanation, although I reflected upon it nonetheless. Not letting that stop me, I submitted my work to an editor. She not only picked it apart like a starving buzzard circling road-kill, but added comments with explanations.


I learned. I grew. She was “The Man” for me. Psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, “If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life.” If I had copped a defensive attitude and ignored good advice, then I’d have lost the opportunity to improve, sabotaging my chance to be better, compromising happiness.


It’s sink or swim, and in a culture where the mantra is “It’s all about me,” isn’t it better to wear the positive goggles than that negative lead shield? It takes an extreme amount of courage to share our writing for the sake of entertainment, and insurmountable bravery to embrace the lesson of a well intended review, critique or edit.


Listen to “The Man,” whether critique partners, reviewers or editors, or else squander growth by shunning help.

***** 

Kathy Calarco maintains the belief that it’s never too late in life for anything. Having returned to school at age 53, she’s currently studying for a degree in Liberal Arts with a focus on Humanities and English Literature. She writes contemporary literature and poetry, and maintains two blogs, Writeful Mumblings and Five Minute Sprint.

5 Things I've Learned About Book Reviews and Reviewers by author Tara Maya

It's that time in my novel's lifecycle that it has to go out into the big wide world and plead for reviews. It's both terrifying and gratifying, when I thought it would merely be terrifying. Already, I've leared so much I never would have guessed about reviews and reviwers, and I'm only beginning.

1. People who read and review books are awesome.


I admit, I never used to think this. I thought of book critics as obnoxious wannabes who enjoyed tearing down writers for the malicious sense of self-importance it gave them. Now I am ashamed of myself for thinking that.

Who are the reviewers? Well, among those who are interested in my book, which is a coming of age story, a fantasy, a romance, a fairytale, there tend to be a lot of young reviewers. College kids, mostly, a few high school and a few just out of school, who find time for fiction around school semester schedules, math tests and English degrees. Then there is a whole slew of SAHM (Stay At Home Moms) who balance a house of small hooligans with very slick, semi-professional review blogs. Among the professionals, librarians and teachers predominant. We mustn't forget there are also a few grandmas out there, boldly braving the new technology to remind readers of classic tales, and also to read new releases.

Some of these reviwers do three to four reviews a week! Some reviewers work in teams. Others work alone. They challenge each other to read X number of Y kind of book in Z amount of time. Not surprisingly, they get burned out. Some reviewers whose beautiful reviews of other books moved me were sadly not taking on any new projects. Others were eagerly still filling their calandars.

2. Not every reviewer will love, or even like my book... and that's okay. Really.

Of course, I've gotten nothing but 5-star reviews for The Unfinished Song: Initiate so far, so it's easy for me to say this now... but I know not every review is going to be 5-stars. Some reviewers I've contacted have already declined because they didn't think it looked like their kind of book. I thought that kind of response would devestate me, but you know what? It didn't. I didn't feel bad about myself or the reviwer in question. It was acutally (gasp) no big deal.

3. There are, in fact, more readers than writers in the world.

I have a lot of friends who write novels. In fact, sometimes it seems like everyone I know writes novels. A great many of my friends on Facebook and Twitter not only write novels, but write much better novels than I, and have been publishing them for years. This is all very intimidating, and it sometimes feels like it's pointless to put any new novels out there, because there are more novels than people to read them...

...and it turns out, this is completely myopic. There are actually lots and lots of people out there scouring the world for books, desperate for books, in love with books.

And it's ridiculous I have to be reminded of this, because I am actually such a reader myself. I was, long before I wrote anything down, and remained, even after I began earning money as a published author. Readers are abundant, they love books, and they make this whole thing worthwhile.

Not surprisingly, some reviewers are also writers, or aspiring writers. Rather than see this as a bad thing, I see myself in them, especially the young girls who are busy devouring 8 books a week while also puttering away on their first novel. I was once in their shoes.

4. Reviewers need ereaders.

There were some reviewers whose blogs I loved, whose reviews were a delight to read, but whom I did not ask to review my book. Why? They didn't want an ebook version, only a print ARC.

I remember going through this with agents and email. Originally, I mailed all my queries. Agents wrote scathingly on their websites that authors had better not try to email them. Then, a few agents began to accept email queries. Naturally, I queried them first, but still wrote paper letters to the others. After a while, it became tiresome to write paper letters, when the more reasonable agents accepted email, and I procrastinated. Finally, long after this should have occurred to me, I realized I didn't even want an agent who couldn't figure out to use email, and I didn't care what their excuse for preferring paper was.

I could see myself about to go through the same thing with ARCs and reviewers. I understand that some reviewers haven't bought an ereader yet, some still prefer paper books, etc. But the fact is, if you are in this industry, and if you review, even as a hobby, you're in it at least by a toe, you owe it to yourself to move past paper. It's just dragging you down. It makes it more expensive to send an ARC, unnecessarily so.

I did note the names of reviewers I liked who had a "no ebook" policy. In a year, I'll check in on them again. I bet many of them will have changed that policy.

5. Reviewers have gone indie too.

A lot of reviewers state explicitly that they won't review self-published books. I'm going to restrain myself from injudicious comparisons to refusing to serve certain people at lunch counters because of the color of their skin rather than the content of their character, because that would unfairly trivialize a loathsome historical situation. I will say that I wish all people would judge books by the content of their character.

Here in the real world, though, some people still turn up their noses at small third party presses and indie books. The most obnoxious so-called fantasy/sf review site I saw actually listed the only publishers from whom it would accept books, and it wasn't a long list.

The publisher of Paeolo Bacigalupi's award winning The Windup Girl, Night Shade Books, was not on that list.

Dude. Whatever.

However, there's a most delicious irony lurking in all this, namely that reviwers themselves are independently published. Think about it. It used to be rather difficult to be a reviewer of any importance, to be anyone publishing houses would send ARCs. You had to have a journalism degree and a job at a newspaper or a magazine or some such, or perhaps a syndicated column. High school girls, and college students and stay at home moms and grandma librarians probably needn't have applied.

Now all you have to do is set up a blog -- self-publish. You don't need credentials, you just need cred, and you build that by providing content. Simple as that. Make it look professional, put the work in like a professional, and you will be treated as a professional, you'll have publishers sending you so many books you have to turn them away in droves. If you're lazy or inconsistant, that shows in the blog, in the number of followers and readers, and probably you won't be as overwhelmed with eager authors and publicists sending you books. Either way, it's all up to you. You can do a professional job without making it your professional job. You have the control.

I love living in a tech revolution that actually helps decentralize power rather than hoard it.
~~~~~

Tara Maya went to school for four years to study History and then after a while she
 went back to school to study History some more. Because four years of History just isn't enough. Academia may have taught her Strunk and White, but the School of Hard Knocks also taught her a thing or two. She's had jobs as a forklift driver, a mermaid and overseas humanitarian worker. She's lived and traveled all around the world: in a village in Cameroon, Africa; in a Buddhist nunnery in Nepal; in a secret Russian city; in Aceh, Indonesia on the same coast hit by the tsunami. She once swapped ghost stories on Halloween with a serial killer. She attended a Backspace convention in 2007 and it was fantastic.

Tara Maya's novel, INITIATE, first in the fantasy series, The Unfinished Song, was released by Misque Press in ebook and trade paperback form in January, 2011.

A Writer's Brand From Soup to Nuts

by Amy Sue Nathan

Just when I get to the point of knowing exactly who the heck I am as a fiction writer, I go and find out I should also be a brand. When I think brand, for some reason, I think Campbell’s soup. The red and white label? The cute Campbell’s kids who aren’t chubby anymore? 

I don’t really want to be a can of soup.

But branding makes sense if you want an identity in the bookstore, in the public eye or on the internet. One wiggly thread that weaves through what you do, who you are, what you write. I’m thinking it’s more like being one of a variety of soups on the shelf, not just one. Like being Chicken with Stars, Rice, O’s and Alphabets. It’s all chicken soup with a different twist. But in the end, it’s chicken soup. It’s the consistent taste and quality is what keeps people coming back for more. You know what they say…

Mmm, mmm, good!

OK, too much soup talk.

So I have thought about what noodles (couldn’t help it, sorry) its way through all of my writing. For the most part my non-fiction articles and essays are parenting-life related in some way. Not necessary about parenting, but about life as it revolves around the world of parenting. Perhaps we could go further and say nontraditional parenting since I’m not in a traditional two-parent family. Not too many people are these days, but if you read most parenting junk, I mean articles, you’d never know that. I think most of my pieces also put a positive spin on things, because frankly any other option is relatively ridiculous to me. I think that complaining is a waste of time, so you better just make the best of it all, make it work. If you waste a day, don’t spend another one crying over it. Harsh? No, economical. Time is something you can’t make more of or get back.

Are you branded as an author/writer and if so… what’s your brand?  What is the piece that makes it undeniably you and what in your writing holds onto readers through various media, books, magazines, journals? You know, are you Chicken with Stars or Chicken with Rice?  Is it just darn good writin’ that keeps people coming back for more of your fiction or creative non-fiction or straight non-fiction. Meaning, could you write about a glass of water and make it interesting or do you need that thread that goes through it that links it to your work. Water for a family because you’re a mom or a dad. Water for horses because you write about ranches and animals. Water for swimming because you write about athletes?

See? It’s not really about soup.

Several years ago I read something New York Times best selling author, Allison Winn Scotch, said about author branding. Obviously, it's working for her. I tend to think along those lines, of making headway with many different stories that all emerge from one small place.

I think that may be key in these tight publishing times, to position oneself as an expert or a damn good writer of a certain type of story or book.  Anything that helps is worth exploring, right?  Am I nuts?

No, maybe I’m just hungry.

Confused about a Muse

by Amy Sue Nathan

According to the venerable Free Dictionary Online a muse is a guiding spirit or a source of inspiration, derived from any of the nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, each of whom presided over a different art or science.

Huh?

I’ve read many a writers post about their muse and yet I’ve never truly been convinced. I believe you have one/them/it if you believe you do — but the idea of it actually confuses me. Is a muse a good luck charm? Like…you can’t write a word unless you have six bobble-heads and a gargoyle statue lined up next to your computer? Is it a certain pair of socks? Could it be a long lost friend or relative whose words encourage you? Is it a smell — lavender maybe? Coffee? Maybe some very religious folks are inspired by their high power?

My inspiration comes out of nowhere – but I’ll admit I’m often in the shower. Is the shower my muse? I like to sit at my desk, shoes off, feet up. Is my own comfort my muse?  My inspiration is honestly less important than my drive.  My ideas bounce around in my head like one of those metal balls inside a pinball machine.  I usually believe that my hyped up sense of awareness allows me to see stories where others see a pot of flowers or a woman behind a counter pouring coffee.  But the source of it all — a lucky charm? An inspiration in some form?  I don’t know about that.

OK, internets, you got some ‘splaining to do.  Tell me what inspires your writing and what or who is your muse.

But first, take a look at these very scientific quiz results.  Amazing what one can find perusing the internet looking for info on muses early in the morning.

Which Greek muse am I? I scored as Urania, the muse of the heavens and astronomy. It says I'm very thoughtful, but so thoughtful that sometimes it hinders you. (I don't think so!) It also says I have the uncanny ability to know something out of the ordinary will happen. (very true) 

Which Greek muse are you?  Here's the link, you know you want it. 

The 40-Year-Old Kindle Virgin, by author J.H. Bográn

Well, not exactly. I’m only 38.

I’ve read e-books using either a laptop or my beloved Blackberry (my wife refers to my BB as “your mistress”, especially when I get out of bed to pick up the phone.) I resisted the idea of acquiring a reading device, especially strange coming from someone whose first e-book was published back in 2006.

My argument? I didn’t want to invest in something only to read books. Along the same line, I would not buy a portable DVD-player when for a couple of hundred bucks more I could get a laptop.

The other reason was that I’m a slow reader, about a book a month. Thanks to a good friend who presented me with her entire David Baldacci collection plus a crazy shopping spree during ThrillerFest, I had over twenty-five books on my TBR (to be read) list. Then came my birthday and a couple of more books came with it. 

I figured I had to trim down the list before I got into e-books. Definitely, 2010 was not the year of the e-reader. At least not for me.

Sometime before Christmas, Amazon announced the release of a third generation Kindle, this time a more affordable one. I placed one on my wish list and spread a few hints. They were ignored. I wrote a letter to Santa, but he replied saying he was busy with my kid’s lists.  

So there I was, middle of January, still with a few hard-cover books to go when I went looking for something else I checked on the Kindle for the thousandth time. 

Except this time, I hit the “buy” button.

Before I could stop myself, I checked out and the waiting game began.

I rent a mailbox service in Miami that consolidates my packages and forwards them to Honduras, where I was born and raised and still live.  A regular order the U.S. takes a week and a half to two weeks to get into my hands. But not my Kindle!

It took full three weeks of nail-biting anxiety!

And when the Kindle did arrive, I loaded own titles first.  Who wouldn't?

My wife said I couldn’t get the smile off my face for the first couple of days.  

Actually, I'm still smiling. 

I don’t think it’ll replace my printed book collection anytime soon. But the portability is fabulous. I read on the go, anything, anywhere and anytime. And now, I understand the hype!

How was your first e-book reader experience?

~~~~~

J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist; he ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. José is the author of TREASURE HUNT, the first in the series of a professional thief that goes by the handle of The Falcon. Other works include short stories, contributor to The Big Thrill magazine, co-screenwriter for two TV serials and movie reviews for Honduran newspaper La Prensa.
www.jhbogran.net
www.facebook.com/jhbogran

How to Write a Synopsis by Author (and former agent) Nathan Bransford

Much like my haircuts, this is a blog post that I have put off for quite a long time. How to write a synopsis. It's like my own personal kryptonite. I've been meaning to post about this for such a long time, but then I'd think, "How in the world am I supposed to give advice on how to write a synopsis? Ohh! I know! I can write about The Hills instead!!"

But I shall put it off no longer. Today's post will be about how to write a synopsis.

I'm starting now. I can do this.

I mean it. I'm going to do it.

Starting now.

Ok, really starting now.

The reason for my recalcitrance is that there's really no one way to write a synopsis. Everyone has a different idea of what a synopsis should entail, how long it should be, whether it should be single- or double-spaced, whether it should include all of the plot or just the really important stuff... I mean, how I can even begin to summarize this and offer any advice is frankly beyond me.


But here is the thing to know about synopses: A synopsis is not an opportunity to talk about every single character and every single plot point in a "and then this happened and then this happened" fashion. A synopsis needs to do two things: 1) it needs to cover all of the major characters and major plot points (including the ending) and 2) it needs to make the work come alive. If your synopsis reads like "and then this happened and then this happened" and it's confusing and dull, well, you might want to revise that baby.

A good place to start for a model on how to write a good synopsis is to mimic book cover copy, only also include in the synopsis what happens in the end. The blurbs on flap jackets and on the back of paperbacks are usually good synopses -- they're a hybrid of plot points but with a bigger sense of what makes the book unique and interesting (although discard the stuff in cover copy that talks about the author -- that doesn't go in a synopsis). You want to strike a balance in the synopsis between covering the plot and characters, but also conveying the spirit and tone of the book and smoothing over gaps between the major plot points you describe.

So in the synopsis, you definitely want to capture how the novel begins and the hook and include all of the major climaxes and the big climax at the end. Between those points introduce major characters and their relationships, and make sure you're conveying the core of the conflicts between all of these elements. But then, rather than just filling in with more and more plot and more and more characters, connect the dots between them with your own summarizing, in order to make the synopsis easy to read and compelling on its own.

Easier said than done, I know. Synopses are tough. Like mosquitoes (my war against them is going better, btw).

How long should a synopsis be? Unless the agent specifies otherwise or you have found better synopsis-writing advice elsewhere (the odds of that are pretty good, frankly), I'd shoot for two to three pages, double-spaced. If it's longer or shorter than that I don't think anyone is going to be angry, but that should be enough to do what you need to do.

So there you have it. It's done. I did it. Thank goodness. Now about that haircut I've been putting off...
~~~~~

Nathan Bransford is the author of JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW, a middle grade novel about three kids who blast off into space, break the universe, and have to find their way back home, which will be published by Dial Books for Young Readers in May.

Baby Steps

by Kerry Gans

           

Walking and writing both achieve success through a combination of perseverance, boldness, practice, and luck. I’ve been watching my baby girl learn to walk, and her persistence and courage amaze me—and remind me of the struggles we writers go through when crafting a story.

The walking process began with pulling up. Getting vertical with no help from Mom or Dad triggered something in her brain—a revelation that this was the start of something big. Writing’s idea stage tantalizes us in a similar fashion—a grand concept shines in our mind’s eye, sweeping all doubts away. This is bound to be THE ONE!

After this idea formed in my baby’s mind, she followed it up with groundwork:  walking while holding on to someone’s hand and furniture cruising. Practice, practice, practice! She built up her coordination the way we build up a story. We create outlines, storyboards, character sketches and do research. This scaffolding gives us strength and direction, something to hold on to when we feel shaky.

Confident from all the practice, my daughter eventually walked between her father and me. Tottering steps with ultra-focus—a beeline between parents, no room for deviation. Getting from point A to B can be the easiest part of the writing process, because we have already outlined to a certain extent. When we know where we’re going, we can write with unwavering concentration, fast and sure.

The time came when baby girl realized she could walk between two objects. This proved riskier than walking between Mom and Dad, though, because the sofa or love seat couldn’t reach out and catch her if she started to fall! As writers, we get to the point in the story where we need to fill in gaps that went unnoticed in the outlining phase. When filling in these gaps, we still have something to hold onto but we sometimes have to reach pretty far to grab on before we fall.

My daughter spent a long time in this small-space phase, taking short hops between supports. She also Godzilla-ed anything in her path, plowing over or through obstacles, which she either overcame or which overcame her. Writer’s block sometimes needs that Godzilla approach—crush it, stomp on it, kick it aside and bull ahead. And if it knocks you down instead, crawl to the nearest support structure and pull yourself back up to your feet to start again.

To truly walk, though, my baby couldn’t stay confined to small spaces with a lot of furniture to support her. She had to face the final frontier—open space. So often she stood, one hand on a table, her whole little body straining forward into the void in the center of the room. She longed to strike out on her own, but fear held her back. Then one day, she let go.

So must we. The abyss is different for every writer. For some it means writing outside their comfort zone. For others, it is searching deep and frightening parts of themselves. Still others dread that moment when someone else reads the manuscript, while some are panic-stricken about sending it to agents. We all have our voids to conquer, that moment when we must let go in order to be free.

When my daughter walks a long way to get to me, she throws herself into my arms, laughing joyously. That moment of ecstasy mirrors why writers write. After repeatedly crawling and falling and pulling ourselves back up again, in the end we hurl ourselves into our Muse’s arms, uplifted and triumphant.

*****

 Kerry Gans is a mother, writer, and editor currently shopping a middle grade adventure, The Egyptian Enigma. Works-in-progress include a YA fantasy, adult science fiction, and children’s picture book. On The Goose’s Quill, she blogs about her journey toward publishing while parenting. Inspiring both blog posts and exhaustion, Kerry’s footloose one-year-old daughter shows her the wonder and joy in life every day.

Looking For A Few Good Sponsors

Over the past three years more than a dozen national and regional writers conferences have closed their doors. Is it the economy? Writer apathy? The cost of a plane ticket to Maui with all the extra nickel-and-diming from the airlines?

We don't pretend to know the reasons, and we really don't care. Why? Because we're dedicated to making the 7th Annual Backspace Writers Conference the premiere conference for writers everywhere, with or without the competition. 

This year, we've actually lowered our prices to make our conference more affordable for everyone, but we're going to need some sponsors from the publishing community to help offset some of our costs. If that sounds like something you might be interested in, click here to read more about how you can help Backspace, and how Backspace can help you!

The Little Author Who Could

by Joanne Levy

STATS:

16 books written

7 books sent out on submission

>1000 agent and editor rejections

= 1 book sale (so far)

Wow, those are some pretty scary stats.  I hesitated about posting them because I feel like they make me look really unsuccessful.  But no, if I look at the last line, right there is my success and the rest doesn’t matter.  “Sure,” you say, “It’s easy to say that now, but what about the eight or so years that you’ve been trying to get published?  Didn’t all that rejection matter?  Weren’t you filled with angst, embarrassment and feelings of failure?”

Yes.  Yes.  Very much, yes.  Angst, embarrassment and feelings of failure were pills I swallowed daily along with my multivitamins and orange juice.  Family and friends had learned that when they asked how my writing was going, they were going to get a short and crusty answer like, “Shitty” or “it’s not”, but periodically I would get the question from a well-meaning relative and would have to explain that publishing is a tough business and it was going to take some time (yeah, it felt pretty hollow to me, too, even as I was saying it).  Indubitably well-meaning relative would get one of those glazed over looks which I knew meant, “But there are so many books on the shelves at chain bookstore, so what’s YOUR problem?” 

Trigger the angst, embarrassment and feelings of failure.

It was really tough; I’m not going to lie.  But if I stopped trying, then I would officially be a failure and the door would be closed—I would never be published.  If I kept trying, there was still hope, no matter how slim.  It was still something. 

Here’s the abridged version of SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE’s road to publication because I don’t think you’re interested in my dirty-laundry-filled account of the whole story. And quite frankly, I don’t have the space to write it all here.

One morning in 2007, I woke up with the title SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE in my head.  I thought, “Hey, that’s a really good title,” but I was working on something else, so I ignored it for a year.  In spring of 2008, I finally wrote it as a funny YA about a girl who gets hit by lightning and can suddenly hear dead people.  It had all the best stuff in there: incest jokes, hot guys, girl-crazy lesbian best friend, suicide attempts and tons of irreverent ghosts.  What’s not to love, right? Out it went.  One editor, we’ll call her L., loved the voice, but thought it would work better as a middle grade and asked if I would consider rewriting.  I was flattered, but politely declined, thinking if she liked it, someone else would love it as it was (plus, the thought terrified me: what did I know about MG?  Zero.  And look at the subject matter; that stuff would not work in a middle grade book).  So thanks but no thanks. 

Then it won the YA category in an RWA contest!  Wow, right?  I thought maybe that would get my foot in the door with the contest judges or garner a little attention from the editors still reading.

Nope. The book didn’t sell. 

 Fast forward a year.  I had just signed with a new agent on a different project when my former agent e-mailed to say that L. had been in touch, asking if I would reconsider writing the book as a MG.  I figured if L. (a senior, high-up-on-the-food-chain editor) was contacting me a year later, I would be stupid not to at least consider it. 

So after much research, I rewrote the first bunch of pages and sent them to L. for feedback.  She and her editorial assistant assured me I was on the right track.  “We love it! Keep going!,” they said.  I finished the book.  I was very proud of myself and thought it was actually quite good.  It was funny and had that cheeky voice they were looking for.  So off it went.

The book didn’t sell. 

Now, if you look back up to the top of this post, you’ll see I’ve weathered a lot of rejection and I’ve never been the type to take declines personally.  But for the first time, I was angry.  I felt duped and betrayed and couldn’t believe I wrote a book specifically for this editor and then she didn’t buy it.  Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe this kind of thing happens all the time, but I was still incredulous.  Despite being wounded, I told my agent I still thought the book was good and if she could sell it easily, to go for it.  But I also told her I’d be happy to never have to think about it ever again.

My agent quietly sent the book out to a few editors who had read my other stuff, and we got positive feedback, but again no takers.  Then in the next round, an editor said she was almost prepared to make an offer.  I thought THIS IS IT!  But then guess what?

The book didn’t sell.

Fast forward a few more months: another editor came forward and said she loved the book but it needed a bit of work.  No longer wounded by my first revision experience, I was up for that.  So we chatted on the phone and I got right on putting together a revised outline.  A few months went by and I began to lose hope, but then my agent called: they made an offer!

(Please – if you take nothing else from this post, use this as a cautionary tale on how NOT to respond when your agent calls with news of an offer.  Repeat after me, “Thank you for calling, kind agent.  I am very excited about this news.”  Practice saying it over and over, so that when the call comes, you do not exclaim, “Oh my f’ing god, are you f’ing serious? I’m going out into the hall to poop my pants!”  Like I did.  You’re welcome.)

So altogether, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE took three years to sell from the time it was first shopped as a YA to when it sold as a middle grade. 

It’s easy to look back now that the novelty of selling it is still very fresh, and say it was all worth it and all the crappy parts are in the past, but I know that’s naïve.  There will be more angst, embarrassment and feelings of failure in store for me.

But today I’m feeling good, because not only did I finally sell a book, but I woke up this morning with a really good title in my head.

~~~~~

Joanne Levy’s love of books began at a very early age.  Being the youngest and the only female among four children, she was often left to her own devices and could frequently be found sitting in a quiet corner with her nose in a book. 

After much teenage misadventure, Joanne eventually graduated from university and now spends her weekdays as an executive assistant at one of Canada’s big banks planning meetings and thwarting coffee emergencies.  When Joanne isn’t working, she can usually be found at her computer, channeling her younger self into books. 

Joanne still lives in Ontario with her husband and kids of the furred and feathered variety.  You can follow Joanne on Twitter or find her on Facebook.  

About Joanne's book:

Lilah Bloom is just an average twelve year old.  Or she was, until her regular life becomes not-so-regular when she gets hit by lightning and can suddenly hear dead people. Alienating the school's popular girl, helping her dead grandmother find her divorced Dad a new wife and saving the grade eight fashion show were not items on Lilah's seventh grade to-do list, but these are just some of the things she has to deal with now that she’s a medium.  Oy!

Look for SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE (MG) during Summer 2012 from Bloomsbury Kids!